Doris O'Brien is a retired college Speech teacher and banker. She has published two books of humor (Up or Down With Women's Liberation and Humor Me a Little) and for many years contributed light verse to the Pepper 'n Salt column of the Wall Street Journal. She is an avid writer of letters to the editors.
Doris celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary in the same year she welcomed her first grandchild. She now lives in Pasadena with a great view of the San Gabriel mountains — and the annual Tournament of Roses Parade.
She can be reached by e-mail: witsendob at (@) gmail.com
A Challenge to Reproductive Decisions Made by Politicians
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Arizona today sued to challenge an Arizona law banning pre-viability abortions on behalf of two Arizona doctors whose patients include women in need of this essential medical care. “Whether a woman decides to continue with a high-risk pregnancy or terminate it, the important thing is that women, families and physicians make these decisions – not politicians without any medical training.” more »
Smart Systems: Don’t Expect to See the ‘Home of the Future’ by 2020
Editor's Note: We built a new home that has Internet, cable and satellite connections facilitating present and future smart systems. IBM is enabling citizens' smartphones with apps alert cities to the existence of potholes, graffiti, and water issues by taking photos and sending them to city management, where they can be dealt with. Sensors that give readouts about human activity are being embedded in shoes, medicine such as asthma inhalers, and medical exploratory surgery devices. more »
In Search of a Job: Criminal Records as Barriers to Employment
Amy L. Solomon relates her testimony: I am writing this letter … out of desperation and to tell you a little about the struggles of re-entering society as a convicted felon." Thus began a letter that made its way to me at the US Department of Justice. "I have had numerous interviews and sent out more than 200 resumes for jobs which I am more than qualified. I have had denial after denial because of my felony." more »
Four Months to Go: Campaign Exhausting But Informative.. Important But Dull
While fewer Republicans than Democrats currently say the campaign has been interesting, GOP voters are more engaged than Democratic voters in the 2012 campaign. For instance, more Republicans are giving quite a lot of thought to the election and more say it really matters who wins. more »
